“Main consideration in the private and public sector being ‘profit’, and in Central Government it is “service” even through Railways, Income Tax & Central Excise are revenue earning departments, hence an equal comparison with the Government is not going to be ever possible. Performance for the Government is usually not measured in terms of profit, but in terms of achieving societal goals.”

Union budget 2016-17 and 7th CPC demands

The Union budget 2016-17 presented by Hon’able Finance Minister in the parliament on 29th Feb 2016 has the total expenditure in the Budget for 2016-17 has been projected at Rs 19.78 lakh crore, consisting of Rs 5.50 lakh crore under Plan and Rs 14.28 lakh crore under Non-Plan. The increase in Plan expenditure is in the order of 15.3% over current year.

The fiscal deficit in RE 2015-16 and BE 2016-17 have been retained at 3.9% and 3.5% of GDP and the growth of GDP has now accelerated to 7.6%. This clearly shows that the finance of the Central Government is in good shape.

The Hon’able Finance Minister in the parliament on 29th Feb 2016 has stated that the next financial year 2016-17 will cast an additional burden on account of the recommendations of the 7th Central Pay Commission and the implementation of Defence OROP.

Let us examine the last year spending on various ministries

This clearly shows many ministries have not spent the money allocated, this due to mainly the shortage of talented staff and various policies’ of the Government.

Today, the weakest link in respect of any government policy is at the delivery stage. This phenomenon is not endemic to India. Internationally also, there is an increasing emphasis on strengthening the delivery lines and decentralization with greater role being assigned at delivery points, which actually determines the benefit that the common citizen is going to derive out of any policy initiative of the government.

More the talented persons are there in Government services, more the delivery of the government schemes will be there, thus the Government machinery will be more effective and common man will benefit a lot.

The 7th CPC has not improved the service condition of the Central Government employees, it has provided just 14.3 % wage hike against the staff side demand of more than 70% wage hike.

The person joining a Government Service is not just for the employment is for a whole career, if a person joins a Government Service he will quit/ retire from the job only after putting 30 years service or more. In case of the person joining a private company he will jump from one company to another at least five times in thirty years.

The talented persons from all over the country are moving to IT, BT and private sectors, rather than Central Government sector. Because of the lower salary / pay structure in Central Government sector compared to IT and BT sectors and complex nature of rules and regulations in Central Government sector and also the skill and merit of the worker/ employee is not into account in Central Government sector.

Main consideration in the private and public sector being ‘profit’, and in Central Government it is “service” even through Railways, Income Tax & Central Excise are revenue earning departments, hence an equal comparison with the Government is not going to be ever possible. Performance for the Government is usually not measured in terms of profit, but in terms of achieving societal goals.

The minimum wage should be calculated using Dr Aykroyd formula and following 15th ILC norms. The actual market rates should be adopted , not the imaginary rates as provided the 7th CPC should be adopted . This will pay way of meaningful wage hike and fitment formula. House rent is from Rs 7000/- per month to Rs 35,000/- per month. The 7th CPC has provided just from Rs 3000/- to Rs 25,000/- per month. The old HRA rates should be adopted.

The strength of Central government employees should increase. In 1990 Population of the country is 85 crores – Central Government Employees strength is 40 lakhs . In 2014 Population of the country is 125 crores – Central Government Employees strength is 31 lakhs. India has 1,622.8 government servants for every 1,00,000 residents. In sharp contrast, the U.S. has 7,681. The Central government, with 3.1 million employees, thus has 257 serving every 1,00,000 population, against the U.S. federal government’s 840.

Non-filling up of vacant posts has resulted in increased work load on the existing employees and delivery of the Government schemes.

Hence the Government should adopt a proper wage policy for the central Government employees and improve vastly the 7th CPC recommendations and fill up vacant post to deliver the Government schemes to the needy of the country. Now that the Central Government finances are good. This way both Central Government employees will benefit and the common man will also benefit.

JOB CREATION : GoI will pay contribution of 8.33% for of all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years of their employment. Budget provision of Rs. 1000 crore for this scheme

INFRASTRUCTURE AND INVESTMENT : Total investment in the road sector, including PMGSY allocation, would be Rs. 97,000 crore during 2016-17.

FINANCIAL SECTOR REFORMS : A comprehensive Code on Resolution of Financial Firms to be introduced.

GOVERNANCE AND EASE OF DOING BUSINESS : A Task Force has been constituted for rationalisation of human resources in various Ministries

FISCAL DISCIPLINE : Fiscal deficit in RE 2015-16 and BE 2016-17 retained at 3.9% and 3.5%

RELIEF TO SMALL TAX PAYERS : Raise the ceiling of tax rebate under section 87A fromRs. 2000 to Rs. 5000 to lessen tax burden on individuals with income upto Rs.5 laks

BOOST EMPLOYMENT AND GROWTH : Increase the turnover limit under Presumptive taxation scheme under section 44AD of the Income Tax Act to Rs. 2 crores to bring big relief to a large number of assessees in the MSME category.

MAKE IN INDIA : Changes in customs and excise duty rates on certain inputs to reduce costs and improve competitiveness of domestic industry

MOVING TOWARDS A PENSIONED SOCIETY : Withdrawal up to 40% of the corpus at the time of retirement to be tax exempt in the case of National Pension Scheme (NPS).

PROMOTING AFFORDABLE HOUSING : 100% deduction for profits to an undertaking in housing project for flats upto 30 sq. metres in four metro cities and 60 sq. metres in other cities

RESOURCE MOBILIZATION FOR AGRICULTURE, RURAL ECONOMY AND CLEAN ENVIRONMENT : Additional tax at the rate of 10% of gross amount of dividend will be payable by the recipients receiving dividend in excess of Rs.10 lakh per annum

The limit of deduction of house rent paid under section 80GG has also been raised to Rs. 60,000 from the existing Rs. 24,000 per annum to give relief to employees who live in rented houses.

Certain Tax Reliefs announced for small tax payers and others

While presenting the General Budget 2016-17 in Lok Sabha here today, the Union Finance Minister Shri Arun Jaitley said that the taxation is a major tool available to Government for removing poverty and inequality and this has to be cautiously exercised. But, he would like to give relief to small tax payers, the Finance Minister added.

Thus the ceiling of tax rebate under Section 87A of IT Act has been proposed to be raised to Rs. 5,000 from Rs. 2,000 for individuals with income less than Rs. 5 lakhs. He said that above 2 crore tax payers would get a relief of Rs. 3,000. The limit of deduction of house rent paid under section 80GG has also been raised to Rs. 60,000 from the existing Rs. 24,000 per annum to give relief to employees who live in rented houses.

Under the presumptive taxation scheme under Section 44AD of the Income tax Act, the limit of turnover or gross receipts has been raised to two crore rupees from the exiting one crore rupees to benefit about 33 lakh small business people. It frees a large number of such assesses in the MSME category from the burden of maintaining detailed books of account and getting audit done.

The presumptive taxation scheme is to be now extended to professionals with gross receipts up to Rs. 50 lakh with the presumption of profit being 50% of the gross receipts.

1. The Government is firm on its course towards fiscal consolidation without compromising on its development agenda. 3.5% fiscal deficit is targeted for FY 2017.

2. Total allocation for Agriculture, Farmers’ welfare and Irrigation set at Rs. 47,912 cr, which is nearly twice the allocation of the previous year.

3. New Health Protection scheme will provide health cover up to Rs. 1 lakh per family and additional Rs. 30,000 for senior citizens.

4. Free LPG connections will be provided in the name of woman member of a family to 1.5 cr BPL households in 2016-17 and to continue for two more years to cover 5 cr households in total.

5. Massive increase in public spending on infrastructure to Rs. 2.21 lakh cr, an increase of 22.5% over the previous year.

6. Higher Education Financing Authority set up, with an initial capital base of Rs. 1,000 cr to promote higher education. In addition, 10 public and 10 private institutions to emerge as world-class Teaching and Research Institutions.

7. Promoting a tax-friendly regime and minimizing hassles due to litigation through a New Dispute Resolution Scheme with low or zero penalties. Ongoing tax cases can be settled with ease.

8. Increased relief for middle-class tax-payers by raising the ceiling of tax rebate under Section 87A to Rs. 5,000 for individuals with income less than Rs. 5 lakhs and by raising the limit of deduction of rent paid under section 80GG to Rs. 60,000.

9. Directly providing financial and other subsidies benefits to people who deserve them by enacting a new law and developing a social security platform using Aadhar.

10. Boosting formal sector employment by provisioning Rs. 1,000 cr towards contributing 8.33% on behalf of all new employees enrolling in EPFO for the first three years of their employment.

11. Simplified and pro-market tax measures such as laying out the roadmap of phasing out of exemptions under Corporate Taxes, abolishing small cesses, providing complete pass through of income-tax to securitization trusts and reducing period of obtaining long-term capital gains treatment for unlisted companies to three years.

12. Promoting entrepreneurship by increasing the turnover limit under Presumptive taxation scheme to Rs. 2 cr, targeting to disburse loans worth Rs. 1.8 lakh cr under PM Mudra Yojana and providing 100% deduction of profits for 3 out of 5 years for start-ups.

13. Facilitating Affordable Housing by 100% tax exemption for profits from small projects, not subjecting distribution REITs and INVITs to Dividend Distribution Tax and encouraging small first-time home buyers by deducting ¬additional interest of Rs. 50,000.

14. Reducing black money through a scheme to declare undisclosed income by paying 45% tax in a given compliance window.

Annual Budget 2016 – Will the income tax slab increase? Or, will it not?

“It is important to keep in mind the expectations of Central Government employees, who accurately calculate and set aside more than their one month’s salary to pay income tax each year.”

The annual budget of 2016 is being presented today. Expectations are high that Modi Government will fulfill the requirements of the farmers, industrialists and Central Government employees.

There are conflicting rumours that the income tax slab is likely to be raised this year. Some say that it wouldn’t.

The Railway Budget was presented on February 25. The Annual Budget of 2016-17 will be presented at 12.00 PM today (February 29, 2016). This is the third general budget presented by the Modi Government’s Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

With the Government requiring more than Rs.1 lakh crore to implement the recommendations of the 7th Pay Commission, Arun Jaitley’s budget will reveal how the government intends to raise these funds, and for raising the capital required for the banks.

The minimum income tax slab for individuals is currently Rs.2.5 lakhs. With increasing prices, the salaried class is eagerly expecting an increase in the tax slabs. Therefore, announcements regarding this are expected in the Budget. With assembly elections scheduled to be held in five states in the near future, the chances of raising the tax slabs are bright.

With the subsidy burden increasing on the Government, the subsidies for those with annual income above a certain level, will very likely be cancelled. LPG subsidy is very likely to be stopped. And, the number of subsidized cylinders is also likely to be reduced.

CSD price list 2019 SERVICE TO SERVICES The Canteen Stores Department, CSD as it is commonly referred to, was created to provide ‘easy access to quality products of daily use, at prices less than market rates’ to the soldiers, ex-servicemen and their families. The Department has 34 depots strategically located across India. This is the […]